He replied: 'You are implacable'," the former shop assistant from Naples told the magazine.

At the time, Mr Berlusconi was married so Miss Pascale had to keep her feelings hidden from the outside world.

He then announced that he was divorcing his wife, former actress Veronica Lario, but even that did not offer Miss Pascale an opening because he of his notorious "bunga bunga" parties, inviting call-girls and starlets to his mansions.

"Women threw themselves at him. It was for him a time of disenchantment, of inability to feel true love," she said.

"It wasn't easy for me. I never attended those dinner parties because I knew I would not have been able to keep silent."

He also told her that she was "too young", explaining "I can't give you what you deserve".

She also faced resistance from her parents. "My mum told me: 'We admire him, too, but he could be your father'".

The couple posed for a gallery of photographs together at Arcore, the villa outside Milan where Mr Berlusconi allegedly hosted his parties.

Mr Berlusconi credited his fiancée with sticking by him during his travails. He finally put an engagement ring on her finger on Christmas Day, 2011.

"Francesca has been close to me through the most difficult days of these past few years," he said. "She has given me happiness and asked for nothing in return. She has restored my faith in the true love of a woman."

Mr Berlusconi is on the verge of being kicked out of politics for good.

The Italian Senate is due to vote in the next few weeks on a motion to strip him of his seat in parliament, after he was convicted of tax fraud.